Taylor Swift Helps Fan Deal With Grief on Mother’s Day

Taylor Swift helped one of her fans deal with the grief of her mother’s death this Mother’s Day. Mother’s Day, ideally, is a time to honor and celebrate mothers, in particular, one’s own mother; but, it can be a time of sadness to many people whose mothers have passed away. Taylor Swift’s own mother is battling cancer, making her keenly aware of how precious the time can be that we have with our mothers, and she responded to an open letter to her on Tumblr with a great deal of empathy and sympathy.

Just this last Christmas, Taylor Swift, 25, asked her mother, Andrea Finlay, 57, as one of her Christmas presents, “to get screened for any health issues,” as she wrote on a social media site. Swift said that her mom got screened, mostly, as she wrote, “just to get me and my brother off her case about it.” Swift found out that her “mom has been diagnosed with cancer.”

When Swift read the open letter posted by a fan, Kaileen, about her mother having passed away last January, it touched a chord in her. “Last January, my mom passed away and a piece of my heart left with her,” the open letter went. Kaileen continued “I can’t spend this day with my mom because she’s in heaven.” She also wrote about how Taylor Swift had helped her get through some of the worst times that she has faced, as a result of her mother’s death, through Swift’s music, stating in her letter “as you’ve done many times before, you filled that hole. You took me out of my sad place and made me happy.”

Taylor Swift responded that she loved Kaileen, and that she had, Swift wrote, “lived through my worst fear.” Swift wrote that she was “sorry” that Kaileen could not spend Mother’s Day with her mom, and she added that “there’s no reason why you should feel okay about it,” and also “No one should ever expect you to feel normal today.” Swift also said she was going to get some “iced coffee.” That prompted Kaileen to refer to Swift as “iced coffee girl.”

While Taylor Swift has not released many other details about her own mother’s battle against cancer, or what type of cancer it is, preferring to keep that information private for now, this past April Swift attended the Academy Of Country Music Awards with her mother. There, her mother addressed the audience and spoke about her daughter, before Swift was presented with a Milestone Award.

On her Facebook page, Taylor Swift wrote that her mom wanted everyone “to know why she may not be at as many shows this tour,” adding “She’s got an important battle to fight.” Swift also expressed her mother’s wishes that everybody remind their parents “to go get checked for cancer.” Then, either minds could be put to rest if their parents turn out to be healthy, or if the diagnosis of cancer was early enough, that could lead to “an easier battle.”

Taylor Swift could have read the letter from one of her fans and not responded, not knowing how to offer any comfort to her. Or, Swift might have thought that she was too busy to respond to every single letter a fan might write to her. But, instead, Swift wrote back to Kaileen, expressing her love and concern for her, and offering her a cyberhug to try to help her fan get through Mother’s Day without her mom around for the first time ever. Of course, words cannot replace the lose of one’s mother, but Swift did her best to help one of her fans cope with her grief and sense of loss on this Mother’s Day. Happy Mother’s Day to everyone, from the staff of Guardian Liberty Voice!